Under Thaddeus Harris' tenure at the First Church it was seen that the congregation had outgrown its accommodations, so the Second Church was set off to be located at Codman Square. The Second Parish was formed by official vote of the Town of Dorchester, June 19, 1807, and the Second Church was organized by a Council, January 1, 1808, with sixty-four charter members "affectionately dismissed" from the First Church. Dr. John Codman became its first pastor in December, 1808. It is interesting to note that the bell in Second Church was cast by Paul Revere. It was at this time that the lines were beginning to be drawn distinctly between the rigid and liberal portions of the churches.

Unitarianism existed as a faith but not as a denomination. Dr. Harris and the First Parish belonged to the liberal order, and the new or Second Church included those who were in sympathy with him and his views. The new minister of the Second Church possessed strong Orthodox views. Liberal members of the Second Church disagreed with Dr. Codman, because he refused to exchange pulpits with the liberal members of the Boston Ministers' Association. A long and bitter controversy followed and led to a confrontation.

Those who were dissatisfied agreed to sell Dr. Codman their pews and to withdraw from the Church membership. The seceders organized the Third Religious Society (called then the New South Parish), a distinct Unitarian parish. Their first meeting was May 6, 1813, when the construction of a meeting house was planned.

Orcutt, William Dana. Good Old Dorchester: A Narrative History of the Town, 1630-1893. Cambridge, The University Press, 1908.

Proceedings of the Second Church and Parish in Dorchester; Exhibited in a Collection of Papers. Published Agreeably to a Vote of the Church. Second edition. Boston: Printed by Samuel T. Armstrong, 1812.

Review of the Dorchester Controversy. From the Panoplist. Boston, 1813.

Robertson, Janet L. Puritan Heritage: A Brief History of Second Church in Dorchester. Boston, 1955.

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here.Created: August 17, 2003 Modified: May 2, 2007